On Trial
by PrincessDesire
Summary: After the Ultimecia incident, Seifer goes on trial for the crimes he committed.Unfinished.Newly updated just to clean up the formatting.This is an OLD story and waves a red flag of mediocrity. Since I can't remember how I intended to end it, I might not.
1. Default Chapter

Chapter 1: Friends That Stick Together

* * *

"Squall, have you ever noticed you are like an autistic child?"

"No, I mean really. You never talk, so that's why when you do, everyone listens." Squall glared at Seifer. They were simply standing outside the courtroom waiting to come back from recess. Both were in uniform, Squall's the deep blue of a seed and Seifer's the clownish orange of a prisoner. "When you get on the stand tomorrow, play real quiet and then say, 'He is the best man I've ever known.' People will be so blown away that you actually spoke, the judge is sure to let me off."

With another heartfelt glare, Squall hissed, "Grow up Seifer. This is important."

Seifer held up his hands and clanked the handcuffs at Squall threateningly. "These kind of gave me that impression."

A flash of worried energy zipped by. "Are you threatening your guard?" asked Selphie as she pinched Seifer's shoulder sharply.

"Ow!" Seifer shifted his body out of her reach. "Is she always so violent or does she just save it for me?"

"I save it for jerks that no one likes," she said, hands on hips and chocolate frosted head tilted. "And don't talk about me like I'm not here."

"Is Zell ready for the stand?" Squall asked Selphie. He was ignoring the bickering of the two.

"He's going over stuff with Quistis. You know, what is classified et cetera." Her eyes snapped back to Seifer after addressing her commander. "And don't expect him to cover your butt."

Seifer acted surprised at the insinuation. "I wouldn't dream of it! I'm sure he's already preoccupied with covering your... Ow!" Selphie's fingers had pinched harder than the previous time. Seifer jerked his body away from the mean little girl.

"We're just friends you jerk!"

Squall frowned. "Ms. Tilmitt, please refrain from assaulting the prisoner. We are in a courthouse."

Straightening up, she apologized, "Sorry commander." She wasn't really, but she didn't like being chided by Squall. She knew that she should be behaving more Seed-like, but Seifer just rifled her so easily.

* * *

"Can you please state and spell your name for the court?"

"Heh. I guess it'd be hard to get this wrong huh?"

"Mr. Dincht, if you please."

Zell coughed nervously. Only one minute on the stand and he had already messed up. He felt sweat building on the sides of his forehead by his ears. Oh, why had he decided to wear his hair down? It was only more professional looking if it wasn't covered in body oils. "Zell Dincht. Z-e-l- l-d-i-n-c-h-t.'"

"And Dincht is your adopted mother's last name?"

"Yep. I mean, yes...sir." Zell hoped that they didn't ask his birth name, because he still wasn't sure what that was.

"You were raised at an orphanage by Edea Kramer weren't you?"

"Yes."

"So, you've known the defendant how many years?"

"Um, about 15 years." That had been a long time of knowing Seifer, though for a good chunk of that, he hadn't been able to remember that they'd been raised together at all. Unfortunately, he wasn't allowed to talk about that, because of Squall's turning their amnesia into a top-secret coverup.

"Would you say that you know the defendant well?"

The sweat finally escaped his skin. "Yes sir." A voice was repeating over and over in Zell's head pleading that they not ask him what he thought of Seifer. 'Please don't ask if I like him, please don't ask if I like him.'

"Would you say that Seifer Almasy is a nice guy?"

Aaagh! He glanced at Seifer's face. It was usually cocky and mean, currently it was dark and anxious. Zell didn't want to be responsible for Seifer's execution. He also couldn't lie under oath.

"Mr. Dincht, would you say he's a nice guy?"

"Um..." His knees felt wobbly even though he was sitting down. Memories of all the things that Seifer had said to him or done to him over the years passed through his mind. Not even counting all the things he had done during the sorceress incident, there had never been a time in his life that Zell would have called him a nice guy.

"Mr. Dincht? Please answer the question."

"No!" blubbered Zell. "He's not nice; he's always been a big bully!" Zell's fist punched the stand at the same time that Seifer tapped his head on the desk in front of him.

&&

"What is your opinion of Seifer Almasy?" This question evoked a wide array of responses from those on the stand.

"I cared enough about him to date him. Just for a summer. We weren't really that close. He's kind of hard to get close to. I think he has a shell around him. He only insults you if he likes you, because his feelings scare him. But, he's a good person underneath it all. I think..." - Rinoa

"I don't really remember him all that well. See, I hadn't seen him since we were kids. He was kind of a loner though. He picked on Zell and Selphie a lot, but that doesn't mean he's a bad guy." - Irvine

"He's a big meanie! He always bumps me in the elevators. He popped the heads off my dolls. He started a missile launch at Trabia Garden. And he tortured Squall!" - Selphie

"He's a little confused about what he wants from life, but he's a good guy. Selphie and Zell were right about the bullying, but he doesn't mean it. I've been his instructor for the few months prior to the incident. He is a little mean, yes, but he isn't a killer. Well, he is a killer. But all of us at Garden are killers. Ha, I hadn't really thought about that." – Quistis

* * *

In his cell that night, Seifer sprawled out face down on his cot. Squall was leaning against the wall next to the urinal. His face was sullen, serious even for Squall.

"After they execute me, I'm coming back as a ghost and haunt those morons." An imperceptible smile flitted across Squall's pinched face. "I mean, did you hear Rinoa? You try and feed someone to an evil sorceress and they just don't trust you anymore."

Seifer flipped over onto his back and gazed with distraught interest at Squall. "What? I heard you make a sound."

"Just wondering if you were remembering that or just thinking about what Rinoa told you."

Seifer chuckled. "You mean that you were wondering if I slipped up with my amnesia act huh? That's it Squall! Three months after crawling back to Garden- Dr. Kadowaki in particular- the truth comes out. I never really had amnesia at all. I just thought it would be fun to turn myself in so that I could attempt to prove my innocence. Isn't it a riot? Ha ha ha." It pissed Seifer off. He was sick of hearing the doubt.

Squall walked towards the cot and waited for Seifer to move over. Eventually, he did just that, allowing Squall room to sit. Side by side, they were together in the gloomy quiet, Seifer supine and Squall sitting with one knee bent and one leg straight out.

"I never didn't believe you."

Surprised, Seifer looked at his friend. The battle with Ultimecia had aged Squall. Coming to take care of the trial probably wasn't helping. "The others don't believe that I was possessed by her. They think I did it for the power and respect. That it was my 'romantic dream.' If I hear that phrase one more time..."

"You said it to me before, in Dollet."

Seifer nodded. That he remembered, though sorceresses and knights had been far from his mind then. "Didn't mean that though. Believe it or not, my dream isn't to torture my friends. Well, it wasn't before the interrogation today."

"Then what did you mean?"

Seifer cleared his throat loudly. With Squall's intense gaze on him, he had to change the subject...and fast. "Do you think I had control of myself?"

Squall glared at him, irritated by the subject change. "We'll see tomorrow, won't we?"


	2. Chapter 2

Dedicated to Possessed.

Chapter Two: Hobbling Towards Unknown Doom

* * *

[Fifteen days before the trial]

Squall was having difficulty adjusting to his new role as Headmaster. It had only been three months, so most would have found that understandable. But, Squall had a number of problems with his new position that might not be considered typical to a new post.

The first was the fac that he didn't want to be Headmaster. He didn't want to be in a position of leadership. He was a Seed. They were trained to obey and take orders, not to run around keeping a school intact. He wanted to just be a soldier. A stupid mindless soldier.

Second, he spoke less than Fuujin. Giving speeches to the students and the faculty? He often times felt nauseous when called upon to talk to people, even his self-proclaimed friends.

Third, he hated hated everyone and everything. He was miserable most of the time. Even his nights were filled with memories of the days behind him and fear of the days ahead. He envisioned Squall Leonhart, Gunblade Specialist, trapped behind a cozy desk with a horde of fans and lackeys.

It wasn't like he could just say no either. Not only was there a serious amount of honor for being placed in such a position of power at his age, but he didn't think he could actually literally tell anyone. He had always had problems talking about his feelings and the prying eyes of Garden didn't make that any easier. Even though growing up with his personality hidden away, Squall was having problems with his life being so different from what he had hoped.

Squall Leonhart had dreams. Romantic dreams…

That stupid phrase had rattled around his brain for months now. Seifer was alive, of course, he was just hiding. It must have been somewhere good for Garden to not have found him. They were witch hunting. Squall knew it, silly to think otherwise. Sure it was okay to keep their frilly pointless Sorceress around, but they had to kill the Sorceress's Knight. "Seifer, you are a coward."

He had just finished that sentence when there was a knock at his door. It was rapid enough to be Selphie and it wasn't the "shave and a haircut" knock that identified Zell. That left either Rinoa, Quistis, or Xu. He wanted to hide underneath his bed. His forbidden personality crept out for a second and he stuck his head below his bed. It was way too low to accommodate his whole body.

"Headmaster? I have urgent information." It was Xu. She was always so dependable and spirited. "Headmaster Squall?"

It was very likely that he was in the shower. If he had been, it would've be okay if he just ignored her. How urgent could it be? Quistis was better at the emergency stuff anyway. 'Shower, shower, shower' he chanted inside his head.

"Squall! Come out!" she yelled. Then in a lower tone, she added, "It's Seifer. He's back."

He tucked away his personality and sprang up to get to the door. Composed, cool, and unaffected, he opened it. She looked at him in complete non-surprise. Xu knew that he had been in there. "He's with Dr. Kadowaki. He apparently has a head trauma."

Squall walked briskly to the infirmary. Seifer Almasy after all this time. Most had speculated that he was dead, but he had known better. The bugger would sit and wait until things had cooled over a bit. But, even after three months the people's bloodlust was still strong, wanting someone that they could blame for all of it. It would have been wiser for Seifer to have waited a little longer.

"Puberty Boy! Kadowaki says that you've been promoted! How the hell did you manage that? You just passed your finals! What are you giving favors to Cid now or something?"

Squall was prepared to give him an icy glare, but then he actually saw Seifer's face. There were bandages wrapped around his head and his eyes were both black. It also looked like his nose was broken. "Seifer?"

Seifer's eyes were not meeting the headmaster's. "Am I not pretty enough for you now?"

Was he hit by a car? Partially eaten by a T-Rexaur? Dr. Kadowaki approached him with a clipboard in hand. "He has a concussion. We think it may have affected his memory. He doesn't remember what left him in this condition."

Interesting. Squall eyed Seifer suspiciously. He didn't seem to be lying. Not that that meant anything, they were both trained diplomats and killers. Those were both professions that prized deception.

"The last thing I remember….well, I'm sure I'll regret saying this, but the last thing I remember is taking Deling hostage. I assume that's why I'm banged up like this. When I woke up though, I was bleeding out of my head and ears. Since I was so close to home, I figured that I'd head back here, even if it was probably one of you jerks that did it to me. Besides, I can always trust Kadowaki."

Seifer shared a smile with Kadowaki. Then he swore. "I think I need a few more meds."

"The last thing you need Mr. Almasy is to fall asleep with a head injury like that. Just keep sitting there for a bit. I'm sure a big strong soldier like you can handle it."

"What a brat," Seifer said as the doctor pulled on Squall's arm. She obviously wanted to talk to him in private.

Once they were out in the hallway, Dr. Kadowaki had confided in him that Seifer felt he had been missing only a day or two. She was positive that he really did have amnesia, due to the severity of his injury. Squall wanted to spend some time with Seifer and judge for himself.


End file.
